US to send top diplomats to Middle East as regional tensions spread. @DailyNews2006 #usa

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1. US to send top diplomats to Middle East as regional tensions spread.
   @DailyNews2006

   US Secretary of State Blinken to visit nine countries as Israel's war on Gaza widens to Lebanon and threatens to engulf region.

   US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks to reporters prior to a meeting with Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant in Tel Aviv, Israel, on November 30, 2023 [Saul Loeb/Reuters]

   The United States is to engage in a

   renewed diplomatic push to calm

   tensions in the Middle East as the

   region teeters on the brink of a re-

   gional conflagration following a

   suspected Israeli strike on a

   Hamas leader in Lebanon, twin

   bombings in Iran and no end in

   sight to Israel's war on Gaza.

   US Secretary of State Antony

   Blinken will engage in some shut-

   tle diplomacy while on a week-

   long whistlestop tour of several

   countries that begins on Thursday.

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   Blinken will visit Israel, the West

   Bank, Turkey, Greece, Jordan,

   Qatar, the United Arab Emirates,

   Saudi Arabia and Egypt, US State

   Department spokesperson

   Matthew Miller told reporters.

   He will discuss immediate mea-

   sures to increase humanitarian as-

   sistance to the Gaza Strip, while

   also stressing to Israel that it

   needs to do more to lower ten-

   sions in the occupied West Bank,

   Miller said.

   Blinken will also focus on pre-

   venting the conflict from expand-

   ing to other countries. "He will

   discuss specific steps parties can

   take, including how they can use

   their influence with others in the

   region, to avoid escalation," Miller

   added.

   Ahead of Blinken's visit, special

   envoy Amos Hochstein, an experi-

   enced hand who has helped bro-

   ker maritime talks between Israel

   and Lebanon in the past, is ex-

   pected to lay the groundwork.

   Blinken's trip, the fourth since

   Israel's war on Gaza began on

   October 7, comes as interlinked

   conflicts in the region reach boil-

   ing point. In recent days, Israel

   has ramped up its attacks on

   Gaza, the occupied West Bank,

   Syria, and on Hezbollah and

   Hamas in Lebanon, and is sus-

   pected of killing top Hamas offi-

   cial Saleh al-Arouri in Beirut on

   Tuesday.

   Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi

   rebels have been disrupting global

   commerce, targeting vessels

   linked to Israel in the Red Sea in

   support of Hamas. Leading a

   multination maritime coalition,

   Washington has issued what ap-

   peared to be a final warning to

   the Houthis. Over the weekend,

   US-led multinational forces sank

   three rebel ships and killed a

   number of rebels, leading Iran to

   deploy a warship to the region.

   'Important time'

   On Wednesday, Iran was hit by

   twin explosions that killed more

   than 80 people commemorating

   the death of top Iranian general

   Qassem Soleimani, who was killed

   in a US drone strike four years

   ago. Esmail Qaani, commander of

   Iran's Quds Force, blamed the US

   and Israel for the attack. The US

   State Department's Miller rebutted

   the claims, calling suggestions of

   US involvement "ridiculous" and

   adding that he had "no reason to

   believe that Israel was involved".

   Reporting from occupied East

   Jerusalem, Al Jazeera's Laura

   Khan said that the US "absolutely"

   wanted to "restore some calm".

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